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Friends,

Please email & fax
Mr Sandy Hollway
Chief Executive of SOCOG
emailto:[log in to unmask] .
The telephone number is 61-2-9297-2000, Fax: 61-2-9297-2020.

to support Bruce's concern and ensure an accessible Olympics.

Frank Hall-Bentick
President
Disability Australia
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Bruce Maguire wrote:
emailto:[log in to unmask]>

> August 3, 1999
>
> Greetings Everyone
>
> This message is being posted to a number of electronic discussion
> lists in an effort to reach as many people as possible. Please
> feel free to forward it to whomever else you think might be
> interested.
>
> I have divided this fairly long message into three parts:
> firstly, a summary of the main points; secondly, a detailed
> account of the events surrounding my complaint against SOCOG
> alleging discrimination on the grounds of disability; and,
> thirdly, a discussion of what seem to me to be the broader social
> and political issues arising from the complaint.
>
> A.      Summary
>
> I continue to be amazed and very encouraged at how many people
> have become aware of my ongoing campaign to obtain information
> about the 2000 Olympic Games in braille. For those who are not
> familiar with the background, a brief summary follows:
> 1) On June 7, I lodged a complaint under the Australian
> Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) against the
> Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG). The
> complaint alleges that SOCOG have discriminated against me on the
> grounds of my disability by failing to provide me with the
> Olympics Ticket Book in braille.
>
> 2) Two days later on June 9, we lodged an application with the
> Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) for an
> Interim Determination pending the final resolution of the
> complaint.
>
> 3) On June 24, the Commission granted the application, ruling
> that SOCOG were to preserve my right to purchase tickets for the
> Olympic Games after the deadline of July 16.
> 4) SOCOG subsequently indicated that they would not comply with
> this Interim Determination.
>
> 5) After considering various options, I decided to refer the
> matter to a Public Hearing at the Human Rights and Equal
> Opportunity Commission, which is scheduled for September. At this
> hearing, all the substantive issues of the complaint will be
> addressed.
>
> B.      Detailed Background to My Complaint
>
> On May 30, print copies of the Official Olympic Games Ticket Book
> were distributed in newspapers across Australia.
>
> On May 31 I telephoned the Sydney Organising Committee for the
> Olympic Games (SOCOG) to request a braille copy of the Official
> Olympic Games Ticket Book, and also a braille copy of the
> Souvenir Programme, which can be ordered through the Ticket Book.
> I was aware that the Olympics Co-ordinating Authority (OCA) has,
> for some years, maintained an access committee to advise it on
> aspects of physical access to Olympics venues, and I hoped that
> SOCOG would have been aware of issues such as the importance of
> making public information available in alternative formats such
> as braille. As a blind person, I use braille as my primary means
> of literacy, and I find it to be the only effective way of
> gaining access to complex formats such as tables and charts -
> which form a significant component of the Olympics Ticket Book.
> There are numerous precedents for having public information
> available in braille: braille telephone bills and bank statements
> are produced in Australia, and information about major festivals,
> as well as cricket and football fixtures, is produced regularly
> in braille. Most recently, information relating to the Telstra
> share offer is being produced in braille.
>
> SOCOG had not made any of its information available in braille,
> and it soon became apparent that they were not prepared to do so.
> They told me in no uncertain terms that I would have to get
> someone else to read me the Ticket Book.
>
> Accordingly, I lodged a complaint under Australia's Commonwealth
> Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), alleging discrimination by
> SOCOG against me on the grounds of my disability because they
> would not provide me with information in braille, and so they
> were treating me less favourably than sighted people. The
> complaint also alleged that SOCOG were being discriminatory
> because their Worldwide Web site does not conform to the
> accessibility guidelines developed by the W3C Consortium, which
> means that it is inaccessible to me in significant respects.
>
> Shortly after I lodged the complaint, Blind Citizens Australia,
> acting on my behalf, lodged an application with the Human Rights
> and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) for an Interim
> Determination. We did this because it was our understanding that
> the deadline for ordering Olympic Games tickets using the Ticket
> Book was July 16, and it was unlikely that HREOC would be able to
> deal with the substantive issues of my complaint before then.
>
> As a direct result of my complaint, SOCOG established a telephone
> line for blind and vision-impaired people to use, and they
> claimed that the operators were prepared to read the entire
> Ticket Book if necessary. They also noted, however, that it would
> take 410 minutes to read the book from beginning to end, and I
> argued that it was unreasonable to expect me or anyone else to
> absorb information about schedules and prices over such an
> extended period of time, especially without any possibility of
> reviewing it later. Readers of print were not expected to do
> this.
>
> The application for an Interim Determination was successful. In
> its reasons for granting the application, the Commission noted
> that there was a more than arguable case that discrimination had
> occurred and that the telephone line was no substitute for a
> braille copy of the Ticket Book. The Interim Determination
> required SOCOG to allow me to purchase tickets after July 16 on
> the same basis as I would have been able to do before that date,
> pending the final hearing of the complaint by the Commission.
>
> SOCOG refused to comply with the Commission's Interim
> Determination. Because of a separation of powers between the
> judicial and administrative branches of Australian government,
> HREOC decisions are not of themselves legally binding. In order
> to enforce the Interim Determination, it would have been
> necessary for me to begin proceedings in the Federal Court. Such
> action would have incurred substantial costs, and had the Federal
> Court ruled against enforcement of the Interim Determination, I
> would have been required to pay SOCOG's costs. I am in no
> financial position to do this, and so I decided that the risk of
> Federal Court action was too great. I decided, instead, to refer
> my complaint to a Public Hearing, which will take place at the
> Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in September this
> year. At this Hearing, all the substantive issues arising from my
> complaint will be dealt with.
>
> The current situation is that SOCOG still have not provided in
> braille any information relating to the Olympics Games. A few
> days before the July 16 deadline, they provided some information
> in electronic form, but this is not my preferred format for
> reading, and is not, for me, a substitute for braille. As a
> result, I was not in a position to purchase any tickets to the
> Olympic Games. I await the Public Hearing in September, but I am
> aware that even if I am successful, Federal Court action may
> still be necessary should SOCOG choose not to comply.
>
> C.      Borader Issues
>
> The campaign to gain access in braille to public information
> disseminated by SOCOG has been much more demanding of my time and
> emotional energy than I envisaged, and is being waged against a
> backdrop of remarkable and unnecessary intransigence on the part
> of SOCOG who will probably - if they have not done so already -
> spend more on legal costs than they would have had they agreed to
> provide me with braille in the first place. Nevertheless, I feel
> that my complaint raises a number of very important issues for
> those of us who have disabilities, and so I believe that it has
> been, and will continue to be, worth pursuing vigorously:
>
> a) Firstly, I believe I should have the right to be able to read
> information in the same way that anyone else is able to do.
> Braille is the closest I can ever get to print, and it is the way
> I read and write. In telling me that I can get someone else to
> read the book, SOCOG are, in effect, saying that I do not have
> the right to read information as others do. It is similar to
> telling a person in a wheelchair that someone else can carry them
> into a building because a ramp will not be provided.
>
> b) There is a need to broaden the traditional public
> conceptualisation of access from access to physical space, to
> encompass access to information. It is, of course, very important
> to have good physical access, but access to information about
> cultural and sporting events is no less important. Blindness is,
> in many ways, an information disability, and in seeking
> independent access to information in braille, I am making a claim
> about my fundamental human right to have access to, and to be
> fully a part of, the community and all its facilities and
> resources.
>
> c) Recently, the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the
> Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. Like most people who
> were old enough to remember this event, I have clear memories of
> where I was and what I was doing when Neil Armstrong set foot on
> the moon. The Olympic Games is an event that will be unique in
> the lives of most Australians - certainly it is most unlikely
> that Australia will host the Games again in my lifetime. In years
> to come, Australians will reflect on the events surrounding the
> Olympic Games, and they will use tangible, written information
> such as the Ticket Book and the Souvenir Programme to act as
> mementoes. I believe that I have as much right to have tangible
> mementoes of the Olympic Games as anyone else.
>
> d) As a father of two sighted children, I am trying to provide a
> positive image of disability. I cherish the hope that they will
> grow up with the belief - confirmed through their observations of
> my life - that people with disabilities can and do partake of the
> full quota of rights, responsibilities and benefits of
> citizenship. I wanted to be able to demonstrate that I could play
> an active role in ordering Olympic Games tickets, just as other
> fathers of other children have done.
>
> e) The possibility of recourse to Federal Court action raises an
> important issue about the feasibility of an individual with
> meagre financial resources being able to prosecute a complaint
> against a large organisation with millions of dollars at its
> disposal. Without financial assistance I simply could not
> initiate proceedings in the Federal Court, and I would be
> bankrupted should I be required to pay the other party's costs.
> SOCOG, on the other hand, have large amounts of financial
> resources, and it is ironic to note that those who ordered
> tickets using the Ticket Book could elect to make a donation to
> SOCOG. Those of us who live in Australia need to be active in
> lobbying politicians to secure a more equitable way of handling
> the issue of costs in the Federal Court insofar as they relate to
> the resolution of DDA complaints.
>
> Finally, I want to thank all those people who have directly or
> indirectly shown their support for me. I have received quite a
> few messages of encouragement from around the world. I know, too,
> that many people have contacted SOCOG to express their
> disappointment that SOCOG have chosen to adopt such an
> uncompromising position. I remain convinced that community
> pressure can make a difference, and so I would welcome any
> legitimate initiatives that might persuade SOCOG to rectify their
> failure to provide me with braille information, and to make their
> Web site fully accessible. The Chief Executive of SOCOG is Sandy
> Hollway, and his email address is [log in to unmask] .
> The telephone number is 02-9297-2000, Fax: 02-9297-2020.
>
> Please feel free to contact me, either by email or telephone
> (Sydney, 02-9639-5346) if you would like more information, or if
> you would like to discuss any of the issues I have raised in this
> email.
>
> Sincerely
> Bruce Maguire
> [log in to unmask]
> Ph: 02-9639-5346
>
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